Armed standoff along U.S. border

[RangerBob]

article

[bru333]

Yup! This sort of activity has been going on for a long time.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=48431

[fastTa]

It's long overdue to beef up our Mexican Border. It really pisses me off that the Mexican Military can bully SUV's loaded with weed right across our border just because they have big machine-guns and we do not. Give our agents some firepower and quit messing around.

[Steel2686]

Let's just plant mine fields all over that area. Armed stand-off? What armed stand-off?

[Dave M]

I don't mean to start a debate here, but I think we'd do more to secure this country by using our miltary to close our porous borders than over in Iraq. The whole mid east is a breeding ground for terrorists and shutting them down in Iraq (if that's even possible) won't stop them from training somewhere else. But if we can secure our borders and ports than maybe we can keep them from coming into the country. It would also help shutdown the drug trade like we see in this article.

[wolfdogs]

i've been working with INS for years in my job....i could tell you folks horror stories of what they go thru...the whole system sucks.......

[fastTa]

I don't mean to start a debate here, but I think we'd do more to secure this country by using our miltary to close our porous borders than over in Iraq. The whole mid east is a breeding ground for terrorists and shutting them down in Iraq (if that's even possible) won't stop them from training somewhere else. But if we can secure our borders and ports than maybe we can keep them from coming into the country. It would also help shutdown the drug trade like we see in this article.

I'm all for stepping up the level of security in and around our borders, airports, and shipping ports, but that does not mean that we should abandon our efforts abroad in stopping terrorism. That would be absolutely stupid. You don't put extra locks on your doors at home to keep the bad guys out, you go out to their turf and pro-actively eliminate them and their wrongdoings before they ever even reach your doorstep.

There is no question that we are doing the right thing by fighting the war on terrorism abroad in their breeding and training grounds rather than attempting to stop them at our borders. It is just physically impossible to secure every inch of the thousands of linear miles along our borders.

[TraceZ]

I'm all for stepping up the level of security in and around our borders, airports, and shipping ports, but that does not mean that we should abandon our efforts abroad in stopping terrorism. That would be absolutely stupid. You don't put extra locks on your doors at home to keep the bad guys out, you go out to their turf and pro-actively eliminate them and their wrongdoings before they ever even reach your doorstep.

There is no question that we are doing the right thing by fighting the war on terrorism abroad in their breeding and training grounds rather than attempting to stop them at our borders. It is just physically impossible to secure every inch of the thousands of linear miles along our borders.

I completely agree, Kevin. I don't intend to sound like we are forming sides against Dave. All my respect to Dave.

I will say this:
Talk to the men and women the USA has stationed in Iraq. They know the truth, the real story. A vast majority of those brave Americans will tell you they are doing the right thing. They have no doubt. The vast majority will tell you we need to stay there and follow the situation to completion.

Who should the average citizen in the USA listen to?

1) The views of American troops in Iraq who are actually *there* and are most likely to know what is going on

2) political anti-war rhetoric written mostly by ignorant people living under the very security provided by our armed forces.

I have talked to many people that have spent a combined decade or more in Iraq. The message from these people is clear. We need to stay, it is the righ thing to do and Iraq is becoming a better place from it.

[Dave M]

I'm all for stepping up the level of security in and around our borders, airports, and shipping ports, but that does not mean that we should abandon our efforts abroad in stopping terrorism. That would be absolutely stupid. You don't put extra locks on your doors at home to keep the bad guys out, you go out to their turf and pro-actively eliminate them and their wrongdoings before they ever even reach your doorstep.

There is no question that we are doing the right thing by fighting the war on terrorism abroad in their breeding and training grounds rather than attempting to stop them at our borders. It is just physically impossible to secure every inch of the thousands of linear miles along our borders.

I completely agree, Kevin. I don't intend to sound like we are forming sides against Dave. All my respect to Dave.

I will say this:
Talk to the men and women the USA has stationed in Iraq. They know the truth, the real story. A vast majority of those brave Americans will tell you they are doing the right thing. They have no doubt. The vast majority will tell you we need to stay there and follow the situation to completion.

Who should the average citizen in the USA listen to?

1) The views of American troops in Iraq who are actually *there* and are most likely to know what is going on

2) political anti-war rhetoric written mostly by ignorant people living under the very security provided by our armed forces.

I have talked to many people that have spent a combined decade or more in Iraq. The message from these people is clear. We need to stay, it is the righ thing to do and Iraq is becoming a better place from it.

I'm not saying we aren't doing a good thing by being in Iraq. I'm all for shutting down the terrorists, but I don't think it's an attainable goal. Even in Iraq we've got our hands full. Then there's Iran, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan... we can't fight them all. There will always be somewhere else they can go to train. By fighting in Iraq they are learning valuable fighting and explosive techniques. In effect, we are providing the terrorists we're fighting with training opportunities. Kevin says it's physically impossible to secure every inch of our borders, but I would counter that it would a lot easier to secure our borders than to secure the entire world. We should always hunt down the terrorists when we can find them and get to them. But fighting full scale wars is not working.

You very well could secure every inch of our borders with the 150,000 troops we're curreently using in Iraq. With approximately 8,000 miles of borders and 150,000 troops, you could place a fully armed troop every ~280 feet or so. There are many (expensive) fixes to help secure our ports that would not require more man power, but would require a large investment of capital and a decade or more of construction. I think it can be done if we simply change our focus.

Obviously, Bin Laden and his cronies should not be allowed to run free. Every effort should be made to nutrilize terrorists and their camps when found through special ops and UAVs.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

article

Time to call in the A10s and Ah64s. That should have been done a long time ago. This is how to police the border.

[Steel2686]

I'm not saying we aren't doing a good thing by being in Iraq. I'm all for shutting down the terrorists, but I don't think it's an attainable goal. Even in Iraq we've got our hands full. Then there's Iran, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan... we can't fight them all. There will always be somewhere else they can go to train. By fighting in Iraq they are learning valuable fighting and explosive techniques. In effect, we are providing the terrorists we're fighting with training opportunities. Kevin says it's physically impossible to secure every inch of our borders, but I would counter that it would a lot easier to secure our borders than to secure the entire world. We should always hunt down the terrorists when we can find them and get to them. But fighting full scale wars is not working.

You very well could secure every inch of our borders with the 150,000 troops we're curreently using in Iraq. With approximately 8,000 miles of borders and 150,000 troops, you could place a fully armed troop every ~280 feet or so. There are many (expensive) fixes to help secure our ports that would not require more man power, but would require a large investment of capital and a decade or more of construction. I think it can be done if we simply change our focus.

Obviously, Bin Laden and his cronies should not be allowed to run free. Every effort should be made to nutrilize terrorists and their camps when found through special ops and UAVs.

I can see where you are coming from, Dave. It probably isn't an attainable goal. However, I beleive our mere presence, including minor victories over terrorist camps, will keep them on the move. If we allow them to simply train and breed new terrorists, they have nothing to fear.

While me may never weed out every terrorist cell, we are definitely setting their plans back more and more. I do agree, though... Our borders need better protection. At least in known areas of trouble.

[TraceZ]

Even in Iraq we've got our hands full. Then there's Iran, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan... we can't fight them all. There will always be somewhere else they can go to train. By fighting in Iraq they are learning valuable fighting and explosive techniques. In effect, we are providing the terrorists we're fighting with training opportunities.

All we can do is plant the seeds of freedom in that region. It may only take one country to start a domino effect over the next 50 years. Also, we are building Iraq's army back up for them, training then to stop terrorists on their own.

You very well could secure every inch of our borders with the 150,000 troops we're curreently using in Iraq. With approximately 8,000 miles of borders and 150,000 troops, you could place a fully armed troop every ~280 feet or so. There are many (expensive) fixes to help secure our ports that would not require more man power, but would require a large investment of capital and a decade or more of construction. I think it can be done if we simply change our focus.

You will never see the US military in a full scale border patrol on our southern border. It would be way to politically incorrect. There are way to many mexicans in this country for anyone in a political position to offend them all like that. It just wont happen, look at the "big political picture". Bush is a conservative and not even he will consider it. A liberal would be even less likely to do it.

[thomas]

It doesnt matter what anyone says. Its our Country! Not there's. We have every right to depend it against any type of threat! Its time to stop being the little b@$ch around here (afraid of stepping on other countries toes) and defend our Country!


Sorry for the rant. I heard yesterday that an iliegal imagrant can collect work mans comp! Just pi@@es me off.

[Red20170]

Some good points here. The big one is what Dave said..

There will always be somewhere else they can go to train. By fighting in Iraq they are learning valuable fighting and explosive techniques. In effect, we are providing the terrorists we're fighting with training

This is what the mujahideen did fighting the Soviets. They mastered guerrilla tactics against a super power's army and then used that knowledge to train others to fight a future enemy.

The pentagon folks are no dummies. If you look at Afghanistan and Iraq. Both former U.S enemies. Now U.S allies This sets the perfect stage. For a future invasion on Iran. The single biggest sponsor of state terrorism. If I were Iran I would be nervous knowing that the U.S is occupying the country to my left and the country to my right.

You very well could secure every inch of our borders with the 150,000 troops we're currently using in Iraq. With approximately 8,000 miles of borders and 150,000 troops, you could place a fully armed troop every ~280 feet or so. There are many (expensive) fixes to help secure our ports that would not require more man power, but would require a large investment of capital and a decade or more of construction. I think it can be done if we simply change our focus.

The Posse Comitatus Act forbids us from doing such actions. In summary you can use the military for domestic police work. I don't agree with the law but that is why we don't see armed troops down there. They are building that very expensive wall down there. You would think we learned from the Berlin wall that you can stop a determined individual.

I think there are a couple solutions to the border problem. One is to stop the flow of illegals. By temporarily suspending the Posse Comitatus Act and Use troops on the ground. This is more of a short term fix. A permanent fix is to solve the poverty problem in central and south American countries. The largest group of illegals in my area is not Mexicans but El Salvadorians. They come here to work and send money back home to keep the family afloat. I read an article recently that legal and illegal El Salvadorians in Virginia sent close to 2 billion back to that country. Another fix I believe is to change laws that allow children born here from illegal parents to be U.S citizens. This would put a stop to the practice of anchor babies.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

The Posse Comitatus Act forbids us from doing such actions. In summary you can use the military for domestic police work. I don't agree with the law but that is why we don't see armed troops down there. They are building that very expensive wall down there. You would think we learned from the Berlin wall that you can stop a determined individual.

I thought that only effected federal troops? The national guard are state controlled troops. The state can call for national guard in protection of their state which I think was recently done on one of the border states.

One note about the Berlin wall was it was built to keep people in not out. It was also quite effective. The wall they are building is actually a fence. It is 2 fences with a road in-between at a cost of a million dollars a mile. Well that is the California-Arizona fence.